Adaptation, Specialization, and the Theory of the Firm: Foundations of the Resource-Based View
Cambridge University Press, 10/27/2016
EAN 9781107595781, ISBN10: 1107595789
Paperback, 312 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm
Language: English
This invaluable book provides the foundations for a new theory of the firm, drawing on Birger Wernerfelt's landmark work on economic theory and the resource-based view of the firm. It addresses a vigorous and long-standing academic debate over what exactly a 'firm' is, both in the field of management and economics. Wernerfelt revisits his classic articles, including an extensively revised 'A Resource-Based View of the Firm' (1984), which have been updated and synthesized to provide precise and accessible concepts and predictions. By offering future directions for research and practice, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of management and economics alike.
Preface
Part I. Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Preview
small forces, high frequencies, and large firms
Part II. The Main Argument
3. Adaptation costs in one dimension
firms, contracts, and price lists
4. Adaptation costs in three dimensions
firms, markets, and contracts
5. All adaptations are not the same
the scope of firms and the size of markets
6. Resources and the scope of the firm
Part III. Implications
7. The allocation of asset ownership
8. Communication within and between firms
9. The power of incentives within and between firms
10. Decision-making in large organizations
Part IV. Empirical Tests
11. Bargaining costs
existence and sub-additivity
12. Adaptation frequency and the boundary of the firm
13. Asset ownership and externalities
Part V. Foundations
14. Endogenously incomplete contracts
15. Multiple equilibria and firm heterogeneity
16. On the endogenous amplification of small differences
Part VI. Postscript
17. Summary and final reflections
Index.